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Thursday, April 21, 2011

My 1932 gown...

I am super, super excited about this latest sewing project for the television theme over at the Sew Weekly. I knew right away that I wanted to make an outfit inspired by my absolute favorite TV show--Firefly. Firefly is what is called a Space Western--part Sci Fi, part Western. It aired in 2002 for 10 of 14 episodes but was cancelled. Due to the huge fan outcry because of the canceling of the show, a movie with the same characters was made called 'Serenity'. The TV show has almost reached cult status because there is still a huge fan following and the DVD sales of the show are still going strong.

David and I are big fans, we are part of the 'Edinburgh Browncoats' fanclub (there are similar fanclubs around the world). The TV show is fantastic. It features an amazing ensemble cast and you really feel connected to all the characters. Definitely check it out if you haven't already! I believe the Science Channel has been airing the episodes since March.

My outfit inspiration came from one of the characters named Inara Serra. She's always very regally dressed. Here are a few photos:

Isn't it dreamy? I absolutely love the shape of the back and the lines of the dress!! The character, Inara, dresses quite a bit in lovely shades of red and gold and uses Chinese and Indian print fabric and I thought that would be perfect for this gown. I found this amazing medium-weight Chinese silk at Edinburgh Fabrics and knew it would be a match made in heaven:

I love this fabric. It's a dream to sew with and I love the different colors reflected within the fabric itself. I used a gold crepe back satin for the border of the bodice.

I am quite happy with how it turned out:

I made a belt to match and found an amazing belt buckle (at the last moment) on Etsy from UK seller jemimajay on Etsy that I think goes perfectly with the fabric:

David took some photos of me wearing the dress at St. Mary's Cathedral, which is apparently the largest ecclesiastical building in Scotland the only place that still maintains the daily choral tradition!

The building is beautiful! Check out the doors:

And of course, the back of the dress is my absolute favorite part:

This dress is pretty easy to put together! The bodice front actually reminds me a bit of the 1934 Wearing History gown I made for Valentine's Day. Both patterns have a gathered front bodice. The instructions for the border of the bodice have you sew it on the inside and then slipstitch to the outside (almost like the opposite of facing)!

There is no interfacing at all in the border and it stays put fairly well. You'll notice the pattern cover shows the dress with two dress clips--which would also look fantastic.

I'm going to try and make this pattern up as a blouse as well for the 1932 spot in my Sewing through the Decades Challenge goal and see how it works. I think for the blouse version I might use interfacing in the back 'v' section because I plan to use crepe back satin for both the main body of the blouse and for the contrast material. Don't you think it would look cute as a tuck-in blouse? I'll let you know how I get on with that!

It has been unseasonably warm in Scotland--the weather was actually perfect for wearing this dress outside. I'm planning to wear it tomorrow for David's birthday! We were thinking of revisiting the place we went on Valentine's day :)

The flowers are all in bloom and Edinburgh looks so lovely! Check out this amazing photo David took of the flowers:

And this amazing photo of the church:

And I just have to share this last photo so that you can see how sunny it was in Edinburgh! This is a photo from the Prince's Street Gardens with the fountain and the castle in the background--one of my absolute favorite views in the city!

OMG!!! I would never have guessed you like Firefly!! I'm absolutely gobsmacked. Wow. I think my favourite character is Jayne, he's just too adorable! lol My favourite Jayne moment is when he gets the package from his mum :) I now get my Adam Baldwin fix from Chuck :)That dress is gorgeous! I love how elegant and graceful Inara is, I think your dress really captures that. I have dress envy too! :)Ashley x

Gorgeous gorgeous. Of course, you would find your perfect brocade at Edinburgh Fabrics - they completely saved my bacon when I needed to make a beret to 'match' the brocade suit I made for my daughter's wedding from a couple of years ago. Just an amazing place. Aladdin's cave.We're going to go to Scotland in July, but this time we will be in Glasgow, so no trip to Edinburgh Fabrics, I'm afraid.

Firefly is one of those shows that I get sucked into even though I've already seen every episode at least four times. (Same goes for Buffy) Your dress is beautiful, and you look stunning in it. This may be my favorite dress yet!

Hello, first time poster :)That dress is amazing! I've been thinking about becoming a sew weekly challenger and for this week was considering making a skirt inspired by one river tam wears to dance in 'safe'... unfortunately exams ate my free time, but I digress!Inara has the most lovely wardrobe in scifi history and your dress looks beautiful!

Gorgeous!!! I just love the fabric you picked out (and the inspiration is pretty tops, imho! ;) I love Serenity, although oddly I've only seen a couple episodes of Firefly...). Plus you always have the most lovely settings for your pictures! :)

Hi, just found your blog today and stumbled upon this post. Gorgeous dress, gorgeous back drop and fabulous TV series! I started watching it a while after it was released and was gobsmacked that it was canceled! I had to buy it on DVD and was straight to the cinema when the movie was released! I would love the show to come back, but I was heartbroken at the loss of Wash and I think the series would seriously miss him! I couldn't chose a favourite character, they are all so strong!